Monday, 8 February 2016

GAZA (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian worker died when a smuggling tunnel collapsed between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Monday.

Palestinian sources told Ma’an that the man, identified only by his initials “M.M”, was a 24-year-old Palestinian from the village of Khirbet al-Aadas north of Rafah.
M.M. died when the tunnel near the border town of Rafah collapsed.

Gaza's tunnel networks are notoriously dangerous. The Institute for Palestine Studies reported in 2012 that Hamas authorities had counted 160 deaths inside the tunnels since the Israeli blockade began in 2007, and in August 2014, al-Jazeera reported that figure to be as high as 400.

While the tunnels are used by the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip as a source of tax revenue and inflow of weapons, they also supply highly-demanded necessities for the 1.8 million residents of the besieged Palestinian territory, including food, medicine, as well as infrastructure materials like concrete and fuel. more